Saturday, June 12, 2010

Owning a home is crazy expensive. Not that I’d expected it to be all roses n’shiz, but serrrrriously? This is insane.

Not only have my condo fees and mortgage gone up {read = locked in mortgage @ 3.79% which isn’t bad, but an increase nevertheless, and the condo fees $100 up per month}, but MY WASHER HAS BROKEN.

Lately I’ve been noticing that my clothes just aren’t coming out clean. There’s little bits of dust on them, or you can still see small stains like deodorant stains on them when they come out of the wash. So, I called the *Canadian Parentals to see what they thought I should do. Papa Canadian said “buy a new one”. Gee thanks, Mr. Frugal. Momma Canadian suggested I ask the property management office who supplied the washer/dryer and see if I could get someone to repair it.

Never the one to not look at my options in the worst case scenario, I begun researching stackable washer/dryers. I wasn’t planning to go for the high end, but didn’t want cheap appliances that would poop out in a year or two – middle of the road was my target. Middle of the what? These started at about $2,000. HA. NO. My e-fund has $1,000 and that’s all I could afford {first time in a long time that I've learned to live within my means. Kudos to me!!!}. Seems as though a bucket and a washboard was how I would be doing all future loads.

After simply asking the management office, I was able to have a repairman come out to my place and FIX the washer. He was so kind as to inform me that it’s likely been broken since I moved in. Therefore, my clothes haven’t been washed in about 6 months. Gross. However, just for the record, I wasn’t stinky! After labour and parts, $300 all in. Thank you e-fund! All paid for and my clothes smell amazeballs.

The moral of the story: always have an e-fund – you will need it. Oh, and if your clothes have dust, chances are, your washer is broken.